Evaluation of intraruminal boluses dosed with sulfamethazine and selenium in goat kids naturally infected with Eimeria spp.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of intraruminal boluses with sulfamethazine (SM) and selenium (Se) on goat kids naturally infected with Eimeria. Twenty goat kids were selected with an average body weight (BW) of 13.7 kg. They were grouped as follows (n = 5 animals per group). BC: dosed with boluses without drugs; BSM: dosed with boluses containing 4 g of SM; BSe: dosed with boluses containing 90 mg of Se; BSMSe: dosed with boluses with 4 g of SM + 90 mg of Se. All animals showed the presence of the boluses at 10 d after dosing by radiography. DMI/BW at the beginning of the experiment was low: 0.76% in BC and 0.86% in the dosed groups. At the end of the experiment there was an increase: 1.36% in BC and 1.54% in the dosed groups (P > 0.05). BSMSe had the lowest percentage of Eimeria spp (P < 0.05). There were differences between the Eimeria species found before and after the treatments. It was observed that BSM and BSMSe decreased the number of oocysts from 7 to 28 d (P < 0.05). BSMSe had the highest content of blood SM and Se (P < 0.05). The histological alterations were loss of the epithelium and villous atrophy.

Keywords

• coccidiosis
• goat
• intraruminal-boluses
• selenium
• sulfamethazine